Packers sign Crosby

I expected this, though I have to say I’m in the camp of those who don’t think Crosby is THAT good. And this is a nice contract for a guy who isn’t THAT good. Crosby, interestingly, has never had a year when he’s made more than 80% of his field goals. For a kicker, that is not good. By comparison, other free agent kickers like Ryan Longwell and David Akers have not had a FG percentage BELOW 80% in the last 3 years.

Now, Crosby isn’t terrible though and one reason I think McCarthy wanted to get this deal done is because of the new rule moving kickoffs up to the 35 yard line. Crosby has a stronger leg than both Akers and Longwell and several of the other free agent kickers and this could be pretty huge for field position this year.

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2 Responses to “Packers sign Crosby”

“I expect a lot of series starting from the 20,” McCartney said, referring to kickoffs being moved up to the 35-yard line. “I think it’s going to be great for Mason. He’ll be able to show off that powerful leg.”

How many teams are going to consistently drive 80 yards against Caper’s defense? Our KR return coverage has below average the last three years and have given up TD’s way too often. (Remember, the Atlanta playoff game?) Having a kicker that can now get mostly touch-backs is no small issue. Factor in Masthay punting and Cobb doing KR and PR and you could see a Packer team dramatically improve the starting field position battle this year. That is the kind of thing that wins game when you have a top-5 defense and an above average offense that just doesn’t turn the ball over that much.

But more importantly, let’s look at Crosby’s performance over his last 12 games. In the 2nd half of the season and the playoffs he went 12/14 or 86%. His two misses both hit the uprights. One of those misses was from 50 yards at Atlanta. The other was from 29 at home against San Fran. He is a few inches from being perfect in the last 12 games of the season.